Friday, May 20, 2011

Every city seems to have their own takes on public art for charity, whether it beL.A.'s Community of Angels project, the Cow Parade, New York's Big Apple sculptures or Sunset Strip's GuitarTown. But you have to admit, there's nothing more endearing than the giant individually decorated Hearts of San Francisco, which benefits the San Francisco General Hospital Foundation.

Classic San Francisco Heart sculpture by Jeremy Sutton

Over the past few years I seem to have visited the City by the Bay at least once a year and the heart installations at Union Square seem to be updated the first few months of the year to keep the art scheme fresh and interesting.

San Francisco's Union Square from above

SingerTony Bennett's painted heart still inhabits the north west corner of Union Square, but three new pieces have joined it since my last trip to San Francisco.

Found on the corner of Powell and Geary Streets, this heart lives up to its name featuring the infamous Golden Gate Bridge on the front and black and white noir images from classic films set in San Francisco, including The Maltese Falcon and Vertigo, on the reverse.